Colleges: Holy Cross' Nick Lovullo has new team — his dad's Red Sox

Holy Cross sophomore Nick Lovullo grew up in Thousand Oaks, Calif., but he always kind of liked the Red Sox, even though it was from 3,000 miles away.

His attachment escalated when he got to Worcester and joined the Crusaders baseball team last fall, and a few weeks after one of the worst seasons in Red Sox history ended, he was all in.

"That's when they became my favorite team," Lovullo said.

Soon after hiring John Farrell as manager, the Red Sox brought on Torey Lovullo, Nick's dad, as bench coach.

You can imagine Nick's fervor now that the Red Sox are one win away from capturing the World Series.

Torey managed the Pawtucket Red Sox in 2010 and was the Blue Jays' first base coach for two seasons when Farrell was Toronto's manager. Their friendship has spanned 20 years, back to when they were Angels teammates in 1993, the year Nick was born.

Torey looked on from the dugout as Koji Uehara got the final three outs of Game 5 Monday at Busch Stadium. Nick, with his stepmother and stepbrother, was watching just as intently from a suite behind first base.

"It's very exciting," Nick said Tuesday afternoon, a few hours after getting back to the HC campus, "especially after going down 2 games to 1. We were just hoping to have a chance to bring it back to Boston and all of a sudden they rallied the troops and got two huge wins and now they just have to take one out of two and it's all theirs."

Nick was in St. Louis for all three games, so he got to see the crazy endings of Game 3 (obstruction) and Game 4 (pickoff at first).

"To see Game 4 end in our favor after what happened the night before, that was pretty awesome," Nick said.

Nick and other family members flew back to Boston with the team after Game 5. "That was pretty cool," he said. His dad drove him back to Holy Cross Tuesday morning around 5:30. Nick ran to Dunkin' Donuts with a couple of teammates before the Crusaders' 7 a.m. practice. After a short nap, it was off to a full day of classes.

He was understandably hoarse, a combination of exhaustion and excitement.

"I think I'm running on adrenaline," he said. "My dad, I'm sure he's running on fumes. There are a lot of emotions going on with him and the whole team."

Nick will be at Fenway Park for tonight's Game 6, which will feature the starting pitching matchup of John Lackey vs. Michael Wacha.

"I hope they wrap it up," Nick said. "I really hope so. I think they have all the momentum right now, but they're also going up against Wacha. I'm expecting a really tight game. Hopefully, they can pull it off."

Nick went to his first game at Fenway Park in 2010 when his dad was managing the PawSox and he was a junior in high school. He was mainly looking at colleges on the West Coast, but after meeting up with HC coach Greg DiCenzo at a camp, Nick — who was a 38th-round pick of the Blue Jays in 2012 — knew he wanted to come to Holy Cross.

He started 40 games as a freshman, mostly at third base or DH, and helped lead HC to the regular-season Patriot League title.

Mentioned in various reports as a possible candidate for the Cubs, Tigers and Mariners managerial vacancies, Torey played parts of eight major league seasons with seven teams and managed in the Indians' system.

He was able to get to Fitton Field on several occasions last season, Nick said, and Nick went to a few regular-season Red Sox games as well.

"Me being in Worcester and my dad in Boston, it couldn't have worked out better," Nick said. "We missed out on so much time together because he's always been on the road. Finally, the baseball gods are giving back. It's pretty special. The fact that all this is happening makes it even more special."

Wrestling is truly special

Assumption graduate Nick DiAntonio wrestled for four years at Milford High and as a senior was the state champion in the 171-pound class, but his most satisfying moments on the mat have come over the last two months.

DiAntonio, along with co-coach Dan Duest of Hopedale, has taken great pride in seeing the dedication, perseverance and enthusiasm members of their Milford Special Athletes Wrestling Team have demonstrated as they learn, compete and succeed in a new sport.

"You love to see the kids succeed," said DiAntonio, a former Greyhounds football captain. "A lot of times, they don't have the same opportunities as their mainstream peers for whatever reason and when they have the chance to engage in a sport, if they've never played before, it's so empowering. I absolutely love to see the smiles on their faces during practice. To see how far they've come and how much they love it, it's incredible to watch."

Six young men, ages 16-29, from Milford and surrounding towns make up the Special Athletes Wrestling Team, which is sponsored by Milford Special Olympics, although wrestling is not a Special Olympics affiliated sport, DiAntonio said.

"Our mission is the same," DiAntonio said, "to serve those with intellectual disabilities and to provide them with the athletic outlet to engage in certain sports."

DiAntonio coaches the Milford Special Olympics powerlifting team in the spring. He previously coached Special Olympians in track and field.

Since early September, the wrestling team has been practicing every Thursday at Milford High.

"At the first practice, the kids were picking everything up so fast," DiAntonio said. "They're so passionate for learning it. It was amazing."

On Nov. 16, the Milford Special Athletes Team will have a match against the Milford High team. The event begins at 6 p.m. All proceeds ($5 general admission, $3 for students with valid IDs, free for children under 10) support Milford Special Olympics.

"Our athletes have been preparing exceptionally hard to prepare for this night," DiAntonio said.

For more information on the event, visit the team's website at milfordspecialathleteswrestling.weebly.com.

DiAntonio, who was the valedictorian of his 2012 Assumption class, is finishing up his graduate course work at Boston College.

Two semifinals will be played March 29 and the regional final is March 30.

Tickets are available at the DCU Center box office, at Ticketmaster locations, by phone at (800) 745-3000, and online at ticketmaster.com.

This will mark the fourth time Holy Cross has hosted the event.

Gerhardt gets award

Tufts graduate and former Jumbos field hockey star Rachel Gerhardt of Worcester was honored at the university's recent Homecoming Weekend as the female recipient of the W. Murray Kenney Award for Positive Attitude/Persistence.

Gerhardt missed most of her sophomore season due to a leg injury, but she worked hard to return as a junior, and last fall, as a senior, contributed seven assists to help lead Tufts to the NCAA Division 3 championship.

Off the field, Gerhardt spearheaded Tufts Athletics' partnership with the nonprofit organization Level the Field (LTF), and she coordinated the participation of several Tufts teams to provide sports clinics for sixth- and seventh-grade students at a nearby community school.